1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a therapeutic method and a pedal apparatus for treating the reflex zones of the feet, and, particularly for the treatment of troubles and ailments due to rachidian disturbance of equilibrium or misalignment of the spine.
2. Material Information Disclosure
Recent experiments have proven that the statural or skeletal muscular system, of which the rachidian muscles are a part, are under the influence of ascending proprioceptive chains whose point of departure is the foot or pedal. Since it is the point of normal support during erect standing:
vertebral alignment or equilibrium and statural or skeletal normality depend on the harmony of these different ascending proprioceptive chains statural normality;
all disturbance of the support on the ground has repercussions higher up by disharmony of stimulation of these chains. It is, therefore, apparent that one could remedy numerous troubles and ailments due to rachidian disequilibrium, by an action of re-equilibration or realignment of the ascending proprioceptive chains obtained by means of stimulation of the soles of the feet where the pedal points of departure of the chains are located. To that end, it has been proposed to correct the activation of the said chains with the help of therapeutic soles of particular form, but if these soles gave encouraging results in the treatment of certain ailments, they were affected by a number of inconveniences or insufficiencies. In effect:
they demand a very meticulous adjustment since the thickness of the wedges must be determined to one tenth of a millimeter;
their surveillance must be frequent, because in the course of the statural correction, thickness of the wedges must be modified;
they only act in strict bi-pedal support, that they only have a minimal effect in the treatment of individuals who practice a profession demanding the seated position;
also, the zones of stimulation are simple or double and only concern, therefore, one or two proprioceptive chains, and, therefore, other zones of stimulation would "modulate" the activation of the principal chains.
An aim of the present invention therefore is to remedy these insufficiencies by allowing for a recovery of equilibrium of the statural or skeletal muscular groups by reequilibration or realignment of the ascending proprioceptive chains, obtained by stimulation of the reflex zones of the foot and, more specifically, the reflex zones of the soles of the feet where the points of pedal departure of said chains are located, by means of a polarized undulatory flux of energy.
It has already been proposed (FR-A-2 453 654) to treat the human body by means of a continuous magnetic flux, pulsed or alternating produced by an electromagnet or by a permanent magnet and polarized by means of an apparatus for polarization of lights constituted, for example, by a polarized lens. Besides the fact that this therapeutic method, and the apparatus conceived for its use were not adapted for the stimulation of the reflex zones of the foot, they are not appropriate for such a treatment. In effect, experiments have proven that the application of a polarized magnetic flux produced by an electromagnet or by an ordinary unipolar permanent magnet on the reflex zones of the soles of the feet, very quickly caused the appearance of signs of magnetic intoxication with an aggravation of certain pains and the appearance of different pains. It has moreover been established that certain magnetic fields could be toxic for living organisms. One cannot therefore consider a permanent stimulation of the reflex zones, with the aid of the method and the above-mentioned apparatus, for the treatment of troubles of posture necessitating a permanent correction scoliosis, syphosis, etc.). Finally, far from favoring the re-equilibration of the ascending proprioceptive chains, one can conclude that the application of a polarized magnetic flux generated by an electromagnet or by an ordinary permanent magnet on the reflex zones of the foot, can aggravate the disequilibrium of the said chains, notably due to an intensity that is too strong.